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Growth Stimulation and Growth Inhibition of Chicks Fed Forage and Forage Juice Concentrate

Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, Urbana

Chick growth was stimulated when either dehydrated or sun-cured alfalfa was added to a purified diet containing all known factors. Dehydrated meal at a level of 10 to 20% gave a response comparable to that elicited by 5% of a forage juice concentrate. The factor appears to be more concentrated in sun-cured meal than in dehydrated meal, since the former gave its maximum response at the 5% level. This would suggest that the high temperature required to process dehydrated meal was responsible for the decrease in activity. The existence of the growth factor in alfalfa meal is difficult to demonstrate in chicks when the meal is added to a practical diet.

When added to a purified diet, alfalfa meal does not depress chick growth until the level of intake exceeds 20%. Even at a 40% level, alfalfa meal does not materially depress growth below that of chicks receiving no alfalfa. Growth inhibition can be more readily demonstrated with the practical diet than with the purified diet, which suggests that other natural feed ingredients may also contain substantial amounts of the growth inhibitor.

² Department of Animal Science.

³ Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Dairy Science.

⁴ Department of Animal Science.

⁵ Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Dairy Science.

Manuscript received 7 October 1952.